Reports over the weekend revealed that data from over 50 million Facebook users was used to target voters in the 2016 US election with political advertisements.

This kind of scrutiny is part of a broader trend pushing the needle closer to bursting the "data/platform bubble," according to Bilal Hafeez, Nomura's global head of G10 FX strategy.

"The bottom line is that trade wars, populism, income inequality can be looked at in isolation, but together they all point to a reaction against the growth of fluid intangible-intensive industries such as the data/platform companies," Hafeez said.

"This means that these markets will come under increasing pressure on how they value data/platforms as the year unfolds."

The core reason Hafeez thinks the data/platform bubble is set to burst is a political sea change against the sector.

Dating back to the campaign trail, President Donald Trump focused on improving goods-producing sectors like manufacturing. Meanwhile, the services sector continues to create the lion share of US jobs and is a bigger contributor to the economy.

Trump's approach also represented a departure from former President Barack Obama, who embraced Silicon Valley and was the first to create executive positions for a chief technology officer and chief data scientist.

It also doesn't help that data companies have helped to widen income inequality by creating "winner-takes-all" dynamics, Hafeez said.

Secondly, Hafeez highlights "the cab driver," representing people who aren't specialists but have become some of the biggest advocates of some technologies.

"A classic sign of the late stages of a boom is when non-specialists start to become the most vocal advocates for the boom," he wrote. Bitcoin's explosion and subsequent rollover — which hurt many platforms created to profit from it — is probably the best recent example of a bandwagon non-specialists jumped on.

Thirdly, Hafeez said fake news could also be the end of the platform bubble, according to Hafeez.

"Today thanks to the increasing concerns that platforms and data-holders have been 'gamed' by corporations and foreign governments to manipulate consumers and voters, there is a growing backlash from individuals and governments on how these platforms can operate," he wrote. "For individuals, this could be resulting in a shift from 'crowd-sourced' information to 'reputation-based' information and opinion."

RELATED: Check out the floor reactions to the biggest stock market plunge since 2001:

11PHOTOS

Floor reactions to stock market plunge

See Gallery

Floor reactions to stock market plunge

A trader looks at a screen that displays the Dow Jones Industrial Average on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, (NYSE) in New York, U.S., February 5, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. U.S. stocks plunged, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down almost 1,600 points, as major averages erased gains for the year.ï¿½Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A trader works on the floor at the closing bell of the Dow Industrial Average at the New York Stock Exchange on February 5, 2018 in New York.
Wall Street stocks endured a brutal session Monday, with the Dow seeing one of its steepest ever one-day point drops, as the heady bullishness of early 2018 gave way to extreme volatility. / AFP PHOTO / Bryan R. Smith (Photo credit should read BRYAN R. SMITH/AFP/Getty Images)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. U.S. stocks plunged, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down almost 1,600 points, as major averages erased gains for the year.ï¿½Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

A monitor displays stock information on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. U.S. stocks plunged, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down almost 1,600 points, as major averages erased gains for the year.ï¿½Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 05: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 5, 2018 in New York City. Following Fridays's over 600 point drop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly fell over 1500 points in afternoon trading. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Monday, Feb. 5, 2018. U.S. stocks plunged, sending the Dow Jones Industrial Average down almost 1,600 points, as major averages erased gains for the year.ï¿½Photographer: Michael Nagle/Bloomberg via Getty Images

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 05: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 5, 2018 in New York City. Following Fridays's over 600 point drop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly fell over 1500 points in afternoon trading. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 05: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 5, 2018 in New York City. Following Fridays's over 600 point drop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average briefly fell over 1500 points in afternoon trading. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 05: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 5, 2018 in New York City. Following Fridays's over 600 point drop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 300 points after the Opening Bell. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

NEW YORK, NY - FEBRUARY 05: Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on February 5, 2018 in New York City. Following Fridays's over 600 point drop, the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell over 300 points after the Opening Bell. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Up Next

See Gallery

Discover More Like This

HIDE CAPTION

SHOW CAPTION

of

SEE ALL

BACK TO SLIDE

And the end result for governments could be even more regulation.

That's the final trigger, as companies move away from adhering to global standards to new, regional rules.

"The EU is increasingly flexing its muscles on the rights of the consumer in relation to data/platform owners," Hafeez said.

"That leaves the pioneering US companies with the most to lose as they have to retrench from these markets."

And if you're looking for a trade recommendation that could profit from this, Hafeez, an FX strategist, advises that the Japanese yen "typically performs well in a volatile world."